Winning puts a smile on Aaron Johnson's face. (Birmingham News / Mark Almond)What do Syracuse (20-1), BYU (20-1), Kentucky (19-1), Kansas (19-1) and Villanova (18-1) have in common? They're the only Division I basketball teams with a better record than 18-2 UAB.

Think about the significance of that in this last week of January.

Of the 347 Division I teams, only five have a better record than the Blazers. Of those five teams, only BYU, Kansas and Villanova are, like UAB, unbeaten in their conference.

UAB is one of 19 teams in the nation still unbeaten in conference play, but only seven of the others have won more conference games than the Blazers, who are now 6-0 and alone in first place in Conference USA.

Siena is 10-0 in the Metro Atlantic.

Murray State is 10-0 in the Ohio Valley.

Oakland is 9-0 in the Summit League.

Butler is 9-0 in the Horizon League. UAB beat Butler.

Michigan State is 8-0 in the Big Ten.

Villanova is 7-0 in the Big East.

Morgan State is 7-0 in the MEAC.

One more thing. In this morning's CBSSports.com RPI, UAB is up to No. 23 in the nation. That RPI number could be huge if the Blazers finish the regular season with a lot of victories but don't win the C-USA Tournament in Tulsa and the automatic NCAA bid that goes with it.

Put it all together, and the morning after UAB 65, Tulsa 55, the Blazers look even better than they did Tuesday night in starting strong and finishing stronger.

Next up: A chance for another quality win Saturday night in Bartow Arena against UTEP.

Win that one, and the Blazers will complete an undefeated January. When's the last time UAB didn't lose a game for an entire calendar month that included more than three games? The Blazers went 9-0 in December of 1991.

How long ago was that? Gene Bartow was the coach, and the Blazers were in their first season in a new league called the Great Midwest.